With the proliferation of optical communication systems the use of small fiber optic connectors has become more prevalent. Optical connectors are typically made of plastic and are useful components for joining optical fibers or waveguide arrays at their ends. Optical connectors are typically pluggable, meaning that they may allow for repeated connection and disconnection. There are many types of optical connectors available on the market today.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a Mechanically Transferable or “MT”-style connector. Some also refer to “MT” as Multi-Terminal connectors. MT connectors are one type of what are known as small form factor (SFF) connectors. MT connectors are popular for parallel optical data transmission since they provide a high fiber count in a dense connector package comprising an arrayed configuration of fiber holes aligned in a single ferrule. Commercially available MT connectors may comprise anywhere from two to twenty-four connection points and in the future will likely comprise many times that number.
FIG. 1 shows a female portion 100 and a male portion 102 of the connector. A female input 101 and a male input 103 may comprise either optical fibers or waveguide arrays intended to be optically connected to each other. Both the female portion 100 and the male portion 102 hold arrays of corresponding exposed optical connection points 104 and 106 in ferrules, 108 and 110. The connection points 104 and 106 may be aligned by a pair of guide pins 112, often made of metal, at the end of the male portion 102, which join into guide holes 114 on the female portion 100. The MT connector may be locked together by a push and click mechanism or may comprise a fastener (not shown) that clips between the end 116 of the female portion 100 and the end 118 of the male portion 102.
FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C show a scenario for attaching a waveguide 101 with an MT connector 100 to a substrate 200. Waveguide 101 may alternatively be a waveguide array. As shown in FIG. 2A, the waveguide 101 is attached to an MT connector 100 precisely. The waveguide 101 and connector 100 are then attached onto a substrate 200 using, for example, an ultra-violet (UV) curable liquid adhesive as shown in FIG. 2B.
As shown in FIG. 2C, an active optical device chip 201 such as a laser or detector or arrays thereof may be flip-chip bonded with solder bumps 202 to the substrate 200 over a 45° mirror 204 positioned at one end of the waveguide 101. Thus, the mirror 204 reflects light to or from the waveguide 101 to the chip 201. A mating MT connector 102 may then be plugged into the waveguide 101 with MT connector 100 on the substrate 200 via guide hole 114 and pin 112 to optically connect the wave guide 101 to external waveguide 103. Unfortunately, the above described process is a highly manual process and not well suited for automated high-speed manufacturing.